


Tipsy Straddles

by mmojo



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora gives Catra a lap dance, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Catra curses like a sailor, F/F, Florist!Adora, Gay Disasters, Glimme and Bow play matchmaker, Mentions of Sex, Modern AU, Scorpia is Gordon Ramsay, Tattoo Artist!Catra, dont judge the title it was hard finding something that wasnt already taken, i dont care if this is overdone im tired, lap dance competition, self indulgent fluff, sometimes you just need some fluff with a bit of zest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:15:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25435255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmojo/pseuds/mmojo
Summary: A Catradora tatoo parlor/flower shop au no one asked for? Catra moves her life half-way across the country to open up her own tattoo shop. Visiting the flower shop across the street during Adora's shift was the best thing she's done since arriving. They're both gay disasters. Mermista eats a bag of chips. Adora gives Catra a drunken lap dance.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 170





	Tipsy Straddles

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back? I didn't exactly plan to write again, yet here I am. I started writing this in early July, but went through a bit of a rough breakup part way through, so I apologize if it gets a bit sloppy as you go along. This is pretty much my own self-indulgent project to help drag me out of my feels, so I hope it can do the same for you! No one asked for this but here it is anyways.

A brisk gust of wind blows a paper down the dimly lit street as Catra chases after it. “Shit. Get back here!” she exclaimed, adjusting the bags slung across her back before reaching out for the rogue letter. The letter in question were the directions to her new apartment printed off of the internet. After a messy breakup, Catra had packed up her life and moved half-way across the country, but she hadn’t anticipated the chance of her getting lost on her first night in a new city. 

Grappling with her bags once more, Catra plucked the paper out of the sky with a small groan. For a city called Bright Moon this place is real gloomy at night, she thought to herself, taking note of the certain lack of nightlife around her. Shrugging it off and looking at the paper again, Catra started making her way to what would be her new home as of tonight. The weight of her bags was really starting to get to her, making her glad she had all her real belongings shipped to the apartment separately. She hadn’t been particularly fond of the thought of having flat mates, however the salary of a self employed artist didn’t exactly cover her living needs. 

She turned the corner and continued down the street before finally approaching the front stoop of her new apartment building. Double checking the 66 on the building with the paper in her hands, Catra stepped inside. As she looked around the empty lobby, Catra took a deep breath and made her way up the stairs to her new home before stopping outside the door numbered 666. Carrying her bags up six flights of stairs had not treated her kindly. Fumbling with her keys a bit, Catra mumbled to herself, hoping that her new flat mates were already asleep. 

Living with other people would be an adjustment. Sharing a bathroom would be an adjustment. She hoped that the money she would be making would take her out of this soon.

After finally inserting the key and pushing open the door, Catra sighed in relief as she was met with a dark and empty room before her. She figured she would have to meet her flat mates at some point, but that would be a problem for future Catra. Dragging her feet to her new room and dropping her bags by the door, Catra fell face first in the bed she had shipped from her last apartment. The days to come would be chaotic between finalizing her move to opening the shop, so the moment of peace was appreciated. 

****

Catra groaned as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched her arms a bit. Looking around her new room, she took in the morning sun shining through the window and noted to remind herself to decorate a bit beyond the bed and dresser she had brought with her. The thought of a new city and a new life was both exhilarating and exhausting. Catra let out a small sigh as she remembered all the work that had to be done. 

Since the start of the move, Catra hadn’t a moment to think about anything as she dropped everything to travel across the country and open her own tattoo shop. Sure, she had the spare second to sleep and eat, but beyond that she had been going nonstop to make sure everything worked out fine. 

Stretching her arms out one more time, Catra stood up and closed her eyes, taking in a deep inhale. She missed waking up to the smell of sunshine and smoke. Catra’s eyes snapped open. She did NOT miss waking up to the smell of sunshine AND smoke. Rushing to rip through her bags and put on a pair of shorts, Catra burst through her bedroom door, only to be met with a dark cloud of smoke and frantic yelling.

“Oh my god. I am so s-sorry! Did I *cough cough* wake you up? I w-wanted to make breakfast for *cough* everyone to celebrate you moving in!” a voice called from across the room, presumably the kitchen. Waving the smoke out of her face, Catra turned and opened up the door to the balcony. “No, I was already up. You’re good,” she said, coughing into her hand. 

Of course I get stuck with some overbearing idiot, Catra thought. It had slipped her mind that her flat mates would actually want to be friends with her. Walking over to the wall and turning on a fan, Catra cursed herself under her breath. She was going to have to put on a smile and be nice now. 

“I’m Catra. Nice to meet you,” she stated rather stiffly, sticking her hand out in the general direction of the voice. The smoke in her eyes had caused them to water, so she hoped she was facing the right direction. Her hopes were answered, as she was met with a pair of large hands gripping her’s tightly, maybe too tightly, and shaking it up and down enthusiastically, definitely too enthusiastically. 

****

After the smoke had cleared and Catra’s eyes stopped watering, breakfast had gone better than it started. Meeting her flatmates, named Scorpia and Entrapa respectively, had been more tiring than she had expected. However, after the initial smoke debacle it had turned out that Scorpia was actually a decent cook. She was surely the most excited of the trio about Catra’s arrival, but she seemed nice enough. Entrapa on the other hand was a completely different story. 

After clearing the smoke and beginning to settle down again, the girl had dropped out of what seemed to be the sky onto the balcony, exclaiming something about smelling smoke from outside and getting her blowtorch. She had nearly scared Catra into the next life. Where did she come from? We literally live on the sixth floor of this building?! Was she just climbing around in the ceiling and up the walls outside? The fact that Entrapa’s face was covered in grease and soot had not helped either. Nor did the fact that she got up in Catra’s face with an ambush of questions and tools in her fascination with Catra’s heterochromia. “No, I do not have a mechanical eye, and no, it does not shoot lasers,” she had stated firmly. She made a note to set up some boundaries when everything calmed down. 

Checking her phone, Catra figured she should start getting ready for the day. Her shop wasn’t going to open, hire people, market, and start taking jobs on its own. Not to mention she had to start working on budgeting for rent on both her apartment and the space her shop is in. She was lucky enough that she had planned ahead this far, having already visited to set up the arrangement for the space and refurbish the insides. She had lived off of nothing but tap water and food cart kabobs for months trying to get that done. A little longer wouldn’t hurt. 

Bidding good day to her flatmates and cleaning up her breakfast, Catra returned to her room to get ready. As she was throwing on a pair of the usual black ripped jeans and a casual burgundy top, she spotted a familiar green pin in her bags. Pushing further down to the bottom of the bag, Catra scoffed and grabbed her phone and keys before striding out of the room. She had come this far, so she couldn’t look back now. 

With a quick goodbye to Scorpia, who had been cleaning up the rest of breakfast, Catra left the apartment. Striding down the stairs and out of the building, Catra made quick work of getting to the shop. Finding an apartment within a couple blocks of the shop had been the one lucky break throughout the entire process of the move. As she pulled out her keys to unlock the front door, she noticed the flower shop across the street. Something to spice up the outside would be nice. Help out the curb appeal and maybe increase foot traffic, she thought to herself as she pushed the door open. 

The natural light coming in from the windows illuminated the navy blue room nicely, welcoming incomers with a cool yet hospitable atmosphere. Shelves with binders full of designs and various art pieces littered the walls, most of which Catra had made herself. The majority of her life could be seen on those walls, including her inking license that hung in a neat frame next to a print of a full-color flower piece she did, but she doubted they told her life story. Catra sighed as she slid into the chair behind the counter in the middle of the room. There was a lot of work she had to begin with, starting with finding a receptionist to employ so she wouldn’t have to do everything herself. Of course she would have to find some other artists as well, but the workload of starting a business alone threatened Catra’s sanity. 

****

Finding a receptionist was easier than she thought. After looking around on LinkedIn a bit and making a list of the people she found interesting, she drafted an email template that would be sent to everyone on the list. Simple things like location, schedules, and general job descriptions were included and then the emails were sent around noon. 

Meanwhile, Catra busied herself in ordering supplies such as ink, sanitary supplies, and other disposables, since she expected to receive replies within the next few days or so. However much to her surprise, Catra received a few replies within a few hours rather than a few days. She figured scheduling in-person interviews at the same would be easier than spreading them out. She just needed an extra set of hands as soon as possible to help around the shop. 

As she was setting up interviews and finishing up her orders, lunch had rolled around the corner to catch her by surprise. The thought of lunch suddenly reminded her how hungry she was, but after checking her bank account it also reminded her that she was also fairly poor at the moment. Getting some clients in the shop was making itself more and more of a priority. However her stomach settled when she looked out the windows towards the flower shop across the street. It may not be food, but she could still use a break. 

Turning off the computer and flipping the shop’s sign to ‘closed,’ Catra made her way across the street. The shop’s storefront was definitely different from hers, but the considerable amount of colorful bouquets and arrangements were charming in comparison to her shop’s ‘way cooler than you’ vibes. Stepping inside, she was hit with the full unbridled force of the flowers’ scents. Bending over to wave away some of the aroma, Catra coughed into her other hand. She had not been expecting it to smell so strongly within the shop. Not to mention the insides of the shop were much less tidy than the outsides, only to be described as ‘chaotically cottagecore.’

****

Adora on the other hand was having a rough day. After waking up late, burning her breakfast, barely making it on time to open up shop, and then breaking a pot in the aforementioned shop, it could be said that she was feeling a bit overwhelmed. 

Odd, given the fact that she quite literally worked in a flower shop surrounded by nothing by greenery and made flower arrangements all day. 

However after lunch she was feeling a bit better. Following opening up shop, watering the majority of the plants, and prepping some of the orders for the day, it had become relatively slow. Putting some finishing touches on the bouquet she had been working on and setting it down in the backroom, Adora turned at the sound of the bell on the front door. She hadn’t expected any orders to be picking up around the time, so she figured it was a walk-in. 

Walk-ins were her favorite, because they weren’t placing the order ahead of time and had yet to have any expectations on what the order was supposed to look like. That meant that she could be more creative with her arrangements, doing things she wouldn’t normally be able to do for a more formal order. 

After finishing up cleaning up the workspace, Adora quickly made for the front counter, shutting the door behind her. While approaching the counter, Adora stopped dead in her tracks and her breath caught in her throat for a second. The cause of the bell’s sound, the customer, had just entered the store and was turned away from her, seemingly bent over to examine the flowerbed next to the windows. 

Adora’s mouth fell open as she watched the customer with awe. Wide eyes surveilled as brown suede boots met distressed black jeans partially covered at the waistband by a burgundy button down hanging off of what looked to be a thin yet toned frame. Further up Adora was met with unbroken rosewood skin framed by full and sinuous mahogany hair as her customer turned to face her. Adora’s mouth had already been open, however her jaw met cold linoleum upon the sight of the customer’s complexion. 

****

Adora felt her lifespan increase about five years as sapphire eyes met a pair of teal and hazel respectively. She must have been unconsciously making a face, because the customer averted her gaze, coughed in her hand, and gave a small wave. 

The clarity of the First Ones made brisk work of bringing Adora back to reality, sweeping her off of her feet. Literally. Adora, upon realizing her embarrassing situation, quickly began walking towards the counter and slipping on a rogue puddle underneath a hanging basket. Adora’s jaw was reunited with the rest of her body as it met the linoleum, Adora letting out a yelp as she descended backwards towards the ground behind the counter. 

Promptly put on her butt behind the counter, Adora cursed herself for not noticing the puddle, as well as the plant for betraying her in front of what seemed to be the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her life. 

“Wow. Are you okay?” a voice sang over the counter in concern. Adora looked up at the small head peeking over the counter top in what she would remember forever as one of the most embarrassing moments of her life. She hoisted herself up with a small groan, once again cursing herself and the plant for the awkward situation. “Yeah I’m okay thanks,” she chuckled, rubbing her backside a bit with her hand. 

It was just her luck that she had done that in front of such an angle. An angel. She meant an angel. Though she would be lying if she didn’t admit that the angle created by the woman’s jawline didn’t make her a bit weak in the knees. Not to mention the way her various piercings caught the natural light around them, making her literally shine like the evening stars. Nor the tease underneath her top, which had not been buttoned all the way up, revealing a hint of what looked to be an intricate tattoo creeping across her collar bone. Adore wondered what other tattoos she had, and what other piercings she may have beyond the ones complimenting her complexion. Adora snapped herself back to reality as she caught herself staring again. 

“H-Hi there! Sorry. Welcome! How can I help you today?” Adora spit out at the alluring stranger. “Oh uh I was just looking for some stuff to put outside my store? I own the new tattoo shop across the street,” the stranger replied with a point over her shoulder. Ah. That explains some things, Adora thought to herself. 

While she had known a few people with tattoos and piercings in the past, they had all been far away from the bland city she called home. The closest thing to the woman before her had to be the occasional teenager who had dyed their hair black and thought Blink-182 were the pinnacle of music. Yet, the muse in front of her radiated a different energy. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it felt more genuine, more authentic than those of the resident punks of her city’s streets. 

“Well I’m sure we can figure something out!” Adora exclaimed cheerily, putting on her ‘customer service’ voice. She mentally face palmed herself as soon as the phrase left her lips. She had already made a fool of herself, putting on her ‘customer service’ voice was only going to make it worse. Coming on too strong here was definitely not the move. She had to play it cool. She could be cool, right? 

****

Wrong. She had completely overestimated her ability to ‘be cool.’ After making a complete embarrassment of herself and awkwardly failing to recover from the situation, Adora had made everything worse with the arrangement she gave the beautiful, beautiful woman from across the street. She couldn’t have been more obvious in trying to hide the enormous boner she had for a woman she had just met. 

“Violets! I gave her violets!! I can’t believe I did that,” Adora groaned, as she threw her hands up in disgust of herself. Slumped into the side of her couch, Adora attempted to bury herself in the take out before her. “I’m not sure I understand what is so bad about violets. I think they’re pretty,” Glimmer, her roommate and third of the self-proclaimed ‘best friend squad,’ stated matter of factly. “Long story short, violets are a lesbian thing. Sappho reference,” Adora glazed over, waving her hand back and forth to emphasize her disinterest in divulging the entire history of a flower. “Ugh. I just had to throw ivy in it too. Couldn’t be more obvious,” Adora grumbled before stuffing her face with more food. 

After the incident at work, Adora had finished the rest of the day off and rushed home to bury herself alive in take away food. She had been lucky enough the Razz’s was still open, and had ordered enough food for a group of large men to help soothe her woes. The carbohydrates were serving their purpose well as vent food, though she may have bought too much for even the three of them to eat together. 

“Aw. Poor gay Adora. Making a fool of herself in front a pretty girl,” another voice chimed in from the kitchen behind her. Bow made his way back to the couch, promptly dropping himself down between the two girls. The couple had been her best friends since moving to Bright Moon, and had been gracious enough to let her move in with them. Living as the ‘best friend squad’ had been the best thing that had happened to her while in Bright Moon, save for her job in the flower shop, and maybe meeting this new mystery girl from across the street. 

“Hey. Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I’m automatically a disaster. I’m a disaster because I’m me,” Adora rebutted, pointing her fork accusingly at her friends. It was true that she was definitely a gay disaster, however not all of her disasters were necessarily gay as well. 

“Alright whatever you say,” Bow teased, raising his hands into a surrender position. It had been awhile since Adora dipped her toes in the dating pool. With her job in the flower shop and her various hobbies she just wasn’t able to find the time. That or she was too preoccupied with herself to notice the girls throwing themselves at her feet. Having a hobby that keeps you in shape definitely did well with girls. The hobby being historical swordsmanship did even better. Lesbians seemed to have a weird thing for women with swords. Either way, Adora had stayed away from the dating scene for quite some time, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t ready to get back in the game. 

After some more light bickering and teasing, the trio eventually settled down for the night, opting to watch a movie before going to bed. Despite how much she adored Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Adora couldn’t bring herself to focus on the movie as her mind was occupied elsewhere or rather on a particular tattoo artist from across the street. 

****

Sitting on the couch, Catra took a swig of the beer in her hand. After purchasing some flowers from a peculiar but interesting girl in the shop across the street, Catra had finished up some light cleaning and closed up early. Scorpia sat across from her rambling on about her day and something about how the three of them were going to be the ‘super pal trio.’ However Catra wasn’t exactly hanging onto her every word. Her mind drifted away from the conversation long ago, lingering on a certain clumsy blonde girl who smelled like the sun. 

She piqued Catra’s interests. Despite her hair being tied back into a ponytail, Catra could tell that its blonde hue was as luminous as the morning dawn, framing her statuesque face aglow in the natural light of the flower shop. 

Catra would have some fun with her for sure. It was pretty obvious the girl thought similarly of Catra herself, given the jaw drop which was shortly followed by the rest of her angelic body. 

The flower shop’s uniform didn’t leave much for the imagination, but the girl’s strong physique could be seen through the polo shirt and apron over the counter. She must be one of THOSE people, Catra thought to herself. She knew the type. The kind of girls who jogged ‘for fun,’ and ‘just happened’ to be able to squat two times her own body weight. The thought of that ability in particular interested Catra. The muscles required to squat that much weight were surely a bit more than toned. Catra felt a smirk creep onto her face. She was going to have some fun courting this girl. 

****

The morning following Catra’s encounter with the cute flustered flower shop girl was overflowing with things to do. She had the interviews, dealing with the order deliveries, trying to find artists, trying to find CUSTOMERS, and trying to find time to visit that flower shop again. Maybe that last one wasn’t exactly work-related, but she did have to increase the shop's curb appeal, and there was a flower shop just across the street. It only made sense that she would need to make a stop there. 

As she was starting up the computer to begin making some spreadsheets and templates for future clients, the sound of the door opening broke her train of thought. Diverting her attention from the screen to the door, Catra expected to see two people, but was only met with one. Strange, as both replies she had received seemed somewhat interested in the job. Moving from her spot behind the counter to make for the door, Catra took a quick second to straighten out her shirt, hair, and pants in an attempt to make herself look more presentable. 

“Hey, welcome. You’re here for the interview right? Right on time,” Catra said, stinking her hand out towards the potential hire. 

The woman before her seemed disinterested in the handshake, simply looking at the hand and averting her gaze. Catra gave her a once over. Dressed in dark blue distressed jeans, a teal top, what seemed to be a very expensive gold belt, Catra had expected someone with an inclination towards more neutral colors. Taking notice of her blue hair, Catra surrendered all her expectations. Damn. This chick really likes blue, Catra thought before awkwardly retracting her hand back to her side. 

Turning back to the counter and picking up a small pad of paper and a pen, Catra led the potential hire back to a lounge room. Catra planted herself into a seat, pulling out the pen and paper. 

“So, let’s start with something easy. What’s your name?” Catra asked, touching the pen to the pad. The woman before her said nothing, still looking around the room at the various decor. Catra gave a small cough into her hand. 

“What’s your name?” she stated again, this time a bit more firmly. 

“Mermista. You got a nice gig here, you like a manager or something?” the woman replied with a hint of boredom in her voice. Catra squeezed her eyes closed and pinched the bridge of her nose before replying, 

“No, I’m the owner.” This is going to be a painfully one-sided interview, Catra cursed at herself. 

****  
The interview had gone smoother as it progressed, with Mermista’s attention returned to Catra’s questions instead of the surrounding decor. As it turned out, Mermista had passed the shop while Catra was still in the process of moving, and had tried to enter but it had been closed. 

The other interviewee had also failed to show up, leaving the job to Mermista by default. Catra could not go another day doing everything herself, and despite her cold exterior, Mermista seemed genuinely interested in the job and had past experience working in a tattoo shop. 

She had also mentioned a potential artist as well, making her input somewhat helpful in lieu of her harsh wording. Her ‘not boyfriend but just someone she knows and doesn’t like’ happens to be an artist looking for work, and after careful filtration of which insults to take seriously and which ones to disregard, Catra was intrigued by him and his work. Getting people on the grindstone was essential in trying to start pulling clients. 

****

After Mermista’s interview and beginning to get her settled in her newfound position, the workday day came to a close. Rubbing the back of her neck, Catra let out a sigh as she stepped out of the shop and turned to lock up for the evening. Maybe I’ll visit a certain blonde florist, she thought to herself, sticking her key into the lock and turning it a full rotation. 

Catra turned to the flower shop, quickly glanced both ways, and strutted across the street. Sticking her keys into her pocket, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. Much to her surprise, it was not a particular golden angel at the counter but a smaller girl with pink to purple ombré hair and a taller boy in a crop top. Catra let out a small scoff in disappointment. As she turned to leave the shop, she heard a voice greeting her behind her. Shit. I didn’t think they had seen me come in. 

Spinning back on her heels towards the voice, she suddenly remembered the bell on the door. Of fucking course, she cursed herself under her breath. Sticking a hand in her back pocket and raising the other in a small wave, Catra cracked an awkward smile. 

“H-Hey. I was just looking around. I don’t need any help so I’ll just be going now,” she stammered. How could she have thought that the pretty girl she’d come for was the only employee at the shop? “Oh we don’t work here, we’re just friends with Adora,” the taller boy offered, exposing a smile bright enough to temporarily blind Catra. Adora? Is that her name? 

As if on cue, a distinct flaxen ponytail spun out of the back room. Catra did her best not to let her enamor show as her vision tunneled on the paragon of beauty before her. 

However back in reality, her attempt had failed, and the two bystanders in the shop gave each other a knowing look and a shrug. The look on Catra’s face at that moment had been priceless. She looked like she had met some sort of goddess with her eyes widened. The moment sparked a fire in the crop top sporting bystander in particular. He looked once more to his companion, this time with a playful smile, to which the smaller girl rolled her eyes and shrugged. Seemingly satisfied with the reluctant permission, he did a small fist pump and turned his attention back towards the scene unfolding in front of him. 

“Hey Bow, hand me those sheers on the counter,” the angelic voice sang as its holder spun to face the front of the shop. Upon receiving the desired item, the seraph returned her focus to the large bouquet in the arms, tying the ribbon around it tight and cutting the loose ends. Much to her surprise, Catra had found her body moving on its own towards the counter and the trio in front of her. Ok, calm down Catra. Be cool. Be smooth, you got this, Catra said to herself like a mantra. Slipping her arm up on the counter and leaning into her weight, Catra let out a small cough into her free hand. 

“Hey, I got a little scared when I saw your friends at the counter instead of you,” Catra said as smoothly as she could. Snapping her head up at the sound, the bombshell, Adora as her friends referred to her as, choked on nothing. Turning and bending over behind the counter, Adora coughed profusely into a fist before turning awkwardly back towards Catra. 

“Oh hey, it's you from before. Yeah they come in sometimes to keep me company,” Adora stated breathlessly. Catra let out a small giggle, coiling into herself a bit. 

“Wow. Are you okay? That sounded kind of rough,” she questioned. Adora’s crops had been watered. A beat passed in silence as Adora stood behind the counter, briefly incapacitated. “O-Oh yeah. Yeah. I’m good, yeah,” she stuttered out, putting down the bouquet and sticking her hand out awkwardly “I’m Adora.” 

Looking down at the hand, Catra could tell it had seen some manual labor in its time. It was fairly calloused, hanging in front of her relaxed yet tense at the same time. Looking further up, Catra could see the arm by which the hand was connected to. Catra took in a breath as she observed the muscles in the girl’s forearm flex from holding her hand up for so long. Her forearm bobbed up and down a bit from holding the hand outstretched. Her hand was outstretched at Catra. She was expecting Catra to shake her hand. Catra felt a shock down her spine as she realized the situation, quickly grabbing the outstretched hand and shaking it swiftly before retracting her own. “Catra,” she exhaled, letting out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding in. 

“You know… another friend of ours is having a party later this week, I’m sure she’d let you in,” a voice practically sang from Catra’s side. Catra startled a bit, having forgotten about Adora’s friends. 

Shifting her gaze to the aforementioned friends, she tilted her head slightly as the crop top boy struggled to mask his bliss and the smaller girl smacked a palm into her face. She turned back to Adora. Seemingly caught by surprise, Adora snapped back into reality. “Oh yeah Frosta’s pretty cool. I’m sure she’d let you in,” she blurted out nervously. A party. It’s a little early to do a ‘meet the family’ type of thing, but I guess it’ll be fine as long as there are enough people. “Oh uh sure. Is it gonna be a big thing?” Catra asked, curious as to what the circumstances were. 

“It’s open invite, so it won’t exactly be a small get together if that’s what you’re thinking,” a more exasperated voice stated. Catra turned to the smaller girl of the trio, nodding a bit before turning back to Adora. “Cool, uh yeah sounds good,” Catra voiced before pulling out her phone. “I’ll leave my number with you for the details,” she said as she opened up her contacts app and airdropped her contact to the three other phones in the area. 

“Guess I’ll see you later, text me the details when you get the chance,” Catra threw over her shoulder as she turned and walked out of the shop as calmly as possible. Open invite huh? Maybe I’ll bring the new roomies.

****

Adora snapped her eyes shut as she felt a bulb of beer push itself down her throat. After their encounter earlier that week, Adora had texted Catra the party information and was left to panic over what might happen. She had even sat her friends down for a “battle planning meeting,” which had gone off course, quickly turning into a dungeons and dragons style campaign of outrageous and purely hypothetical situations. 

Since the meeting before the party, party preparations, and the early wave of guests, Adora had taken to getting drunk as a method of keeping herself sane. I think it’s working, she thought to herself, taking another swig of the beer in her hand. More guests had begun to show up, filling Frosta’s house enough to be called a ‘party’ rather than a ‘get together.’ However the guest causing Adora’s anxiety had yet to show. Is she even gonna come? I know she read the text but she didn’t respond, Adora thought. Her thought was broken before it could devour further, intruded upon by a hand resting on her shoulder. Looking up from the empty bottle in her hand, Adora gave a coy smile towards Glimmer and Bow. They knew she had been driving herself a bit crazy over this party, or rather who she expected to come to this party. 

“You know, ‘panicked maniac’ probably isn’t the best vibe to give off if you’re looking to get laid tonight,” Glimmer teased, elbowing her lightly in the ribs. Adora rolled her eyes. 

“I am not getting laid tonight Glimmer,” she huffed, crossing her arms and turning her face away to hide her now scarlet face. Though I am not opposed to it. She just doesn’t seem like the type, she thought to herself. 

The sound of music and party goers coursed through her head, her friends included. However the sound of her friends bickering with each other came to a stop, leading Adora to snap out of her fantasies and redirect her attention in the direction her friends were looking. Adora disregarded her friends’ abrupt behavior in favor of the view of the party’s most recently arrived guest. 

Adora felt a warmth build up in her core as she watched Catra and a couple friends enter the party. Dressed in a pair of black ripped jeans, a magenta top and a slightly distressed burgundy leather jacket, Catra scanned the party before turning to a larger woman behind her in a black dress. Her gaze fell over her shoulder as she turned in Adora’s direction. How had she seen me so fast? Her question was answered as she turned to her side to see Bow flagging Catra down with one arm, while using the other to cup his hand around his mouth and call out to her. Oh great. Thanks Bow. So much for smooth and casual, Adora thought as she mentally facepalmed herself. Quickly arranging her thoughts, grabbing the drink out of Glimmer’s hand and then chugging said drink, Adora prepared herself as Catra and her friend strode towards her. 

“H-hey Catra! Welcome to the party! It’s nice to see you,” Adora fumbled, twiddling with the cup and bottle in her hands. 

“Hey, nice party you got going here. Hope you don’t mind, I brought my roommates with me,” Catra said, sticking a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of her larger friend. 

“Yeah this is Scorpia and Entrapa,” she said. Adora’s jaw dropped. Entrapa?! Like Entrapa, Entrapa?! Here?! Adora looked over her shoulder in the direction she was pointing. However much to her surprise, only Catra’s larger friend, Scorpia as she was introduced, waved back towards them. 

“Uh, yeah Bow, Glimmer, and I already know Entrapa, in fact she used to be part of our friend group before she kind of just disappeared,” Adora stated, rubbing the back of her neck. 

“Oh cool, yeah she’s one of my new roomies since I just moved here and all, she’s pretty annoying but she’s alright,” Catra said, looking over to where Scorpia was. “Oh and she’s gone, great,” Catra said, seemingly unfazed at the disappearance of her roommate. 

“O-Okay well… Glimmer and I are gonna go, Adora. Uh, welcome to the party Catra, and uh use protection I guess,” Bow voiced awkwardly before taking Glimmer by the arm and dragging them both away. Adora opened her mouth to protest, turning towards the spot her friends once occupied, and closing it again upon seeing they were already long gone. 

****

After getting ditched by her friends and being left to fend for herself whilst trying to impress the most titillating girl she’d ever met, it was needless to say Adora had drank a lot in order to keep herself from freaking out too much. Feeling tipsy, Adora had walked Catra a loop around the house party, introducing her to people here and there. 

They had spent a particularly long time with Netossa and her wife Spinnerella, given the fact that Catra had offered Netossa some work in her shop upon finding out she was an artist. Netossa and Spinnerella had been friends with Glimmer and Bow’s group long before Adora had joined them, though they mostly kept to themselves for the most part. 

After finally dragging her away from the older couple, Adora had lost count of her drinks and had taken to struggling to hold a conversation with Catra, who seemed to be handling her alcohol better than she was. Granted, Adora had pre-gamed, anxiety drank before she had arrived, and had gotten a bit desperate later on, substituting vodka for her usual beer. Needless to say, Adora had gone beyond tipsy. 

Still barely in control, Adora led Catra outside to the back yard, where a make-shift dance floor had been set up. 

“Heyyy Catra. Lezz dance!” Adora slurred, pulling Catra by the hand towards the crowd bobbing to the beat. Catra was jerked forwards into the crowd before she could even protest. Wow, she sure is a lightweight. I should slow her down. Also damn, her grip is super strong?! I’d love to have those hands somewhere else though, Catra thought to herself as she was pulled through the crowd. 

“Hey before we dance why don’t we get you hydrated, I think you’ve had a bit too much to drink,” Catra yelled over the music, turning the tables on Adora’s grip and leading her towards the house again. Filling a cup with water, Catra shoves it into Adora’s arms. 

“Drink this,” she states firmly. Adora cracks a cheeky smile before downing the water like a shot. 

“Hahaaa… pretty AND kind? Woooow you must be some kind of angel, haaaa” Adora, garbled. Catra felt her stomach jump through her throat. She thinks I’m pretty? Catra turned her face away in embarrassment. 

“Yeah whatever, here,” Catra took the cup back before filling it up again and punching back into Adora’s arms for her to drink. After a couple more rounds of forcing Adora to drink water and Adora oversharing, Catra finally agreed to go dance with her. God I hope I can find her friends again later. What were their names? Glitter and Arrow? She’s gonna be so hungover tomorrow, Catra thought as she let Adora pull her back outside towards the dance floor. 

Music blared over the speakers as Adora and Catra danced, Catra doing a kind of step-and-touch, swaying her hips to the beat, while Adora preferred to dance a bit more expressively. Catra accredited it to the alcohol, not to disregard the fact it was sure a sight to behold. Hands up, eyes closed, Adora swung her hips to the beat, occasionally throwing in fancy step sequence or two. 

Even more intriguing was that while distracted by her own world, Adora had been getting closer and closer to Catra, practically grinding on her at this point. 

Flustered but tipsy, Catra hadn’t opposed the situation, simply just continuing to dance instead. Essentially grinding on each other, Adora and Catra both came to a sudden realization. 

Looking at each other through lustful eyes, the pair continued to dance, this time with a bit more intent as they got closer to each other. Leaning into each other, Catra’s hands ventured to the small of Adora’s back, flowing with the beat as the song changed. Tensions and drunk impulses running high, Catra pulled Adora closer, looking into her eyes. The sexual tension between the two could be cut with a knife. Such was true before Adora suddenly pulled away and clapped a hand over her mouth in exclamation. 

“Thisss is the BEEEST soongg!” she shouted before searching the crowd. Satisfied with the scan, she met eyes with Bow across the dance floor who had apparently been looking for her as well. 

With a small nod, Bow quickly cleared the floor, placing three chairs in the center of the crowd. Catra looked around for Adora in the chaos, shocked at the sudden change in environment. Her concern didn’t last long though, as she was pulled towards the center of the crowd and promptly pushed into a chair. Looking around, she saw two others in similar positions, a man in an odd pirate-esque get up with a mustache, and Scorpia much to her own surprise. However before her mind could catch up, her attention was pulled away from the others in the center of the circle, and towards Adora who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. 

“You’re in forrr a trrreat,” she giggled, leaning in and whispering in Catra ear. Before she could respond Catra was interrupted by the sound of the music cutting, then Glimmer and Bow appearing before her in the middle of the circle. 

“Alriggghhht party people! You know what time it is!” Bow exclaimed into a microphone before passing it to Glimmer. 

“That’s right! You all know the rules, but for those who don’t there’s only two: No touching the dancers and whoever gets the most applause wins!” she exclaimed, gesturing to Catra and then to the crowd, “Alriggghht then! Let’s get this going! DJ! Hit us with your sexiest beat!” 

Obeying the direction and cheers from the crowd, the DJ pumped up the volume on the song playing from before. Catra’s eyes darted around her, catching a girl who looked like Mermista and another girl she didn’t know approaching their respective partners in the chairs before bringing her focus back to Adora. 

Catra swelled in anxiety and embarrassment. Oh my god. Strutting up to her, Adora circled around the chair, letting her hand linger on Catra’s shoulder before straddling her and sitting down with a hand on each shoulder. 

Catra’s breath hitched as Adora gazed into her eyes with lust. Adora then began rolling her hips to the beat of the music as Catra’s hands fell to her hips, only to be smacked away. Catra began sweating profusely as Adora leaned in, close enough for Catra to feel her breath on her neck. “No touching remember?” 

Catra felt a chill go down her spine. Standing up again, Adora circled the chair once more, fingers tracing up Catra’s arm and across her shoulders. After making her way full-circle around the chair, Adora sat straddled Catra once again and slowly lowered herself onto her lap, wrapping one arm around Catra’s neck and one moving up to caress her neck. 

Catra felt a fire light in her core as Adora began gridining again, locking eyes with her in a gaze that could only be described as unbridled hunger. Time had slowed to a stop as Catra’s eyes flitted down to Adora’s lips, humouring the thought before her fantasies were interrupted for the hundredth time that night by the sound of the music coming to a close and Glimmer returning with the microphone. 

“Damn, that was HOT. Alright, time to vote! You guys know how it goes, make some noise for the dancer you think should win!” she exclaimed, gesturing back to the trio of pairs, the members in the chair looking more shocked than their counterparts. So I guess I wasn’t the only one caught by surprise, she thought in relief. 

Catra hadn’t even noticed the noise created by the voting. She stared at Adora, who had gotten up and taken to working the crowd, as Catra herself sat in the chair in disbelief. She didn’t care who won the vote. Catra had been the real winner that night. 

***

The world faded into the background as Catra is pulled out of the chair by a strong but gentle pair of hands. “Hahaaaa s-sucks we didn’t winnnnn… neeext time though!” a very drunk Adora slurred, pulling Catra in close. 

Catra was at a loss for words, only nodding in response before being pulled in yet another direction. The crowd had dispersed around them at this point, many deciding to return inside the house or around the front to leave for the night. Catra figured it was time to do the same. Gathering her thoughts as she was dragged along, she remembered Scorpia and Entrapa. 

Scorpia she had seen during the lap dance competition, but Entrapa she lost track of almost as soon as they had entered the party. She’s probably dismantling their HVAC for kicks, she thought to herself. 

Catra’s eyes darted around her as Adora pulled her back towards the house. Spotting Scorpia, still with the woman from the lap dance competition and frankly looking relatively flushed, Catra flagged her down. 

“Hey, I’m getting ready to leave! Are you coming or staying here?” she yelled as she passed. Squinting her eyes, Catra could see she was saying something back, but couldn’t hear over the noise of the party. However judging by her frantic arm movements, scarlet face, and the fact that she was with a cute girl, Catra assumed she would be hanging around the party for a bit longer. Fine by me. That girl needs to get laid. Maybe it’ll chill her out, she shrugged to herself. 

The only thing left to do was get her blonde beauty back to her friends. She had to admit, the girl was much clumsier sober than drunk, and despite the drunk flirting she may have been even more luminous in her honesty. 

“Catraaaaaa heyyy Catraaaaa,” Adora whined, her grip on Catra’s wrist growing tighter. Catra rolled her eyes and shot Adora a look and a shrug. Adora’s face could only be described as ‘absolutely plastered’ as she beamed down at Catra through hooded lids with a dopey smile and flushed cheeks. 

“Hahaaa, I’d love to see your otherrr tattoos. He he,” she slurred, “Maaaybe some more skinnn tooooo! You rrreaally haad the nerrrve to sshhow up loooking like thaaaat, heh.” Adora made an attempt to gesture up and down Catra’s figure, failing and simply smacking her in the face instead. 

Catra felt a heat growing in her core and creeping up her neck. Wow. Just how much did she drink? 

“Have you seen your friends?I think it’s time fo—” Adora hiccuped, seizing her stride and turning around to face Catra. “Catraaaa arre you leavinggg? Withouuut meee?” Adora exclaimed, eyes watering a bit as she pouted. 

Catra mentally stuck her foot in her own mouth, noticing how the sudden turn brought Catra’s line of sight directly into Adora’s chest. Thanks to the thin t-shirt she was wearing, Catra could even see the taller girl’s bra-line, blushing profusely at the sight before putting some distance between Adora and herself. Fuck, I need to find Adora friends right now. What’re they’re names again? Boat and Shimmer? 

“Adora. Where are your friends?” Catra practically screamed, her head still turned away from her. “OHHHH THEY LEFT ALREADYYY,” Adora shouted back. Great, she’s a loud AND flirty drunk. 

Catra cursed herself under her breath. It wasn’t like she could just leave her like this. Weighing her options, Catra let out a sigh. I guess I’m just gonna have to take her home with me. 

“Hey. You’re coming home with me. Let’s go,” Catra stated, putting her foot down in favor of some sleep. 

“With youuu? Wooooow Catraaaa, sooo forwarddd,” Adora slurred, tilting her head down and waggling her eyebrows. 

Catra’s breath hitched in her throat. Shit. It does kinda sound like that. But she’s way too drunk to consent to anything. I can shoot my shot later, she needs to get some sleep. She’s gonna feel like shit tomorrow. 

Catra let the offending breath out, rolling her eyes a bit. Taking Adora by the hand, Catra led her around the front of the house, waving good night to Netossa and Spinnerella as she passed. Netossa and Spinnerella paused their conversation at the sight, giving each other a knowing look and a warm smile. 

“Remember when we were like that, babe?” Spinnerella voiced, widening her smile at her wife. 

Netossa chuckled and gave her wife a light smack. “Oh my god, we were not like that at all.”

Still pulling Adora by the hand, Catra quickly noticed how quiet the girl had gotten. Stopping and turning on her heels, Catra brought her gaze up to see Adora staring at her hand with wide eyes. Catra suddenly realized the situation. Swiftly dropping the hand, Catra let out a scoff. 

“It was just so I wouldn’t lose you on the way out. We’re out so there’s no need for it anymore. Come on,” she coughed, diverting her eyes back to the ground. Looking back up, she was met with yet another view of Adora beaming down at her with a wide smile and stormy eyes. 

“Heyyyy Catraaa, I’m tireddd,” she said, suddenly flopping down on Catra, throwing her arms around the petite girl’s neck. 

Catra could feel her spine folding in two under the sudden weight, making an effort to remain standing. Praying to the universe for strength, Catra did her best to both keep her feet underneath of her and push Adora off of her. 

“Alright well let’s get you home and in bed,” she said with as much patience she could muster. 

“Okaay, you’re so nice and pretty and hot and did I mention niceee?” Adora grumbled into Catra’s ear, breath hot on the back of her neck, “This is whyyy I’m so glad you came in the other dayyyy. Hahaaa I hope you got the flowerrssss, I made sure they were extraaa gay.” Gay? How can flowers be gay? 

Catra continued her efforts to remove Adora’s weight from her, but Adora was very drunk and hellbent on remaining draped across Catra like a fur coat. 

“Yeahhhh I gave you some gaaaay assss flowersss, heh,” she was almost whispering now. “Hahaaaa, yeahhhh hellaa gay,” Adora mumbled. 

Catra could feel her getting quickly heavier, struggling to keep herself up before eventually coming down under Adora’s weight. Great. She fucking fell asleep. Catra rubbed her lower back, thinking about what to do next. She could deal with whatever that meant later. 

Well I can’t carry her home like this, she thought, before an idea came to her. Quickly whipping out her phone, Catra thumbed a couple times across the screen and sat down on the pavement. Within minutes a large black SUV pulled up next to her and rolled down its window.

“Catra?” the small man in the driver’s seat asked. Simply nodding her head, Catra opened the backdoor of the car and heaved Adora inside before getting in herself. 

“Uhm is she okay?” the driver asked, turned around in his seat. Catra could tell by his nervous tone and the fear in his eyes that he had jumped to a worse case scenario. 

“Yeah, she just had too much to drink,” she reassured him, watching as the tension visibly lifted off of his shoulders. 

The drive back to Catra’s flat was short and silent, Catra scrolling through social media and the driver choosing to keep to himself. Upon arriving outside her building, Catra thanked the driver and dragged Adora out of the car. Fuck. This is gonna be fun, she thought to herself, remembering her sixth floor apartment. 

Sighing, Catra took Adora underneath her arms and began her ascent up to her apartment. Adora was really gonna have to pay her back. After dragging Adora’s dead weight up six flights of stairs, Catra dropped her in front of the door, bending over and catching her breath. She so owes me after this. 

Taking out her keys and unlocking the door, Catra pushed the door open and dragged Adora in, closing the door behind them. 

Catra let out a huff as she shrugged off Adora’s shoes, leaving at them the door before dragging her to her bedroom. Struggling to throw Adora onto the bed, Catra strained herself, sighing in relief upon getting her on the bed. Shit this is gonna be awkward, Catra mentally slammed herself. 

Digging through her bags, Catra pulled out an extra large t-shirt, throwing it on the bed before carefully shrugging off Adora’s pants. The warmth in Catra’s core resurfaced as Catra gazed down upon Adora’s muscular legs. Fuck man. She must work out like, all the time. Folding up the pants and placing them on the drawer, Catra turned back to Adora, who mumbled and cracked an eye open. 

“Catraaaa are we about to have sex right nowwww? Did you get a condom alreadyyy?” she grumbled. 

“No, you’re going to bed, here gimme your shirt,” she said warmly, the thought of sex with Adora at the forefront of her mind. 

Reaching down to peel off Adora’s shirt, Catra’s hands were quickly caught and jerked forward by Adora, bringing Catra’s face close enough to touch noses with Adora. 

“Awhhh do you not want to have sex with meee?” Adora whined, tears welling up in her eyes. Catra quickly pulled away, peeling Adora’s shirt off in one fluid motion and slipping hers onto her. 

“That’s not it. You’re just too drunk right now. Maybe another time…” Catra said coyly. That’s right. She’s drunk. She doesn’t actually want to have sex with you. 

Drawing back the covers, Catra spins Adora to slide underneath the sheets before pulling them back over. 

“Bed time. Go to sleep.” Catra states, before folding up Adora’s shirt and placing it atop her pants. 

“Okayyyyy,” Adora mumbles before closing her eyes. Satisfied with the reply, Catra left to fill a cup with water and grab some Advil from the kitchen. She’s gonna need this tomorrow. 

Placing the cup and Advil on the bedside, Catra took one last look at a sleeping Adora before throwing some pajamas on herself and curling up on the couch. Damn she’s so cute when she’s asleep, she thought before shutting her own eyes and passing out instantly, exhausted from the haul upstairs. 

****

THUMP… THUMP… THUMP… THUM—Fuck. Why does my head feel it's being marched on by a small army?! 

Adora peeled her eyes open, blinking at the sun filtering through the window and throwing an arm over her face to shield herself from the bright light. Closing her eyes again and rolling over, Adora thought deeply about all the possible reasons her head could feel the way it does. 

Letting out a large yawn, Adora sat up and stretched her arms, rubbing the tired out of her eyes. Upon looking around for her phone, the broken memories of the night before flooded back into Adora’s mind. 

Quickly shaking her head and taking in the scene, Adora panicked as she realized she wasn’t in her bed, or in her room, or in her house for that matter. Where the fuck am I?! 

Throwing back the covers, Adora gasped as she looked down at her bare legs and a shirt that wasn’t hers. Why am I half naked?! Who’s shirt is this?! Oh my god. I had a one night stand. Oh. My. God. 

Adora quickly rushed to her feet, not bothering to get a better look at her surroundings. 

Spotting a window, Adora strode over, pushed it up as far as she could and started climbing out. Having pushed it up halfway, Adora struggled to get up onto the windowsill and outside onto the fire escape. 

She could just figure it out when she got outside, it didn’t matter she was half-naked and unaware of her exact location. 

Jumping up and pushing her torso through, Adora let out a grunt as she tried to wiggle through the window and onto the fire escape. Shit. It’s still closed halfway. If I just push harder… Adora thought, using all of her strength to push herself through, letting out a loud grunt in the process. 

Her head was throbbing as she tried to wrestle herself through, grunting and groaning loud enough for the whole block to hear. Lucky for her, the street was empty. Shit, what time is it? Of course this happens to me. I just need to get out before whoever’s bed I slept in comes back. 

With another grunt, Adora began pushing the outside of the building again. Throughout the grunting, and the fact that she was halfway out of a sixth story window, Adora had failed to notice the sound of the door opening and footsteps approaching. Hence, the sound of a warm giggling had startled her enough to jump up and bang her back on the bottom of the window. 

“Hey, I know you were crazy drunk last night, but I would’ve thought you’d have slept it off by now,” the voice teased. OH. MY. GOD. 

Adora quickly pulled herself back through the window inside the bedroom. Standing before her, Catra had walked in dressed in a t-shirt and aggressively short shorts, and had caught Adora in the middle of her ‘epic escape’ from an awkward situation.

“Oh h-hey C-Catra! I uhm I-I didn’t recognize the decor so I figured I’d save whoever’s house I crashed in the trouble of an awkward morning after and just get my walk of shame over with,” Adora stammered, rubbing her back a bit as she stuttered. Oh my god. We didn’t have sex did we?! 

“Walk of shame? Why the shame? What do you think happened last night?” Catra questioned, walking up to Adora and straightening out her borrowed shirt. Catra must have been hit with the realization as soon as the words came out of her mouth, because her expression suddenly changed from relaxed to flustered and panicking as well. 

“Oh no… no no no no, it’s not like that!” Catra exclaimed, waving her hands in front of her frantically. Sighing, Catra let a smile creep onto her face. 

“Come on. You’re probably hungry. Did you take the Advil and water I left for you?” Catra pointed to the nightstand with a cup of water and a bottle of Advil, Adora’s clothes alongside them. 

“Uh no, I kinda just woke up and started trying to climb out your window,” Adora chuckled, “Haha, sorry. Are you sure about the food? I wouldn’t want to make things worse.” Catra simply waved the offer off and started walking out of the bedroom towards what was presumably the kitchen. 

****

“That’s my wildcat. Always taking care of people,” said Catra’s larger friend from before, who had since been introduced as Scorpia. Wildcat? That’s so cute. Catra probably hates it, Adora noted. 

The older woman was wearing an apron that said “Romaine calm. Lettuce carrot on.” Why it was on an apron usually used for grilling meat seemed beyond Adora. Catra had disappeared to start getting dressed and ready for the day, stating she had a lot of work to do. 

“So you’re like Catra’s roommate? Do you know if like, we did it last night?” Adora pondered, her questions still unanswered. 

“Did it? I don’t know, but I came home late last night after the party and saw Wildcat had crashed on the couch. She is just so chivalrous isn’t she?” Scorpia replied, throwing some vegetables over an egg before folding the whole thing over. 

Plating the omelet and turning off the stovetop, Scorpia sat the food down in front of Adora, plopping herself down across the table. Adora let out a sigh of relief. She had been so nervous the night before that she got a bit carried away with the drinking, so who knows what she did. Phew, not that I don’t want to have sex with Catra, but I would prefer to do it sober, Adora thought to herself, relieved she didn’t make too much of a fool out of herself the night before. 

Looking down at the shirt Catra had lent her, Adora felt warmth and a smile creep onto her face. She really got me in pajamas after bringing me into her home even though we JUST met. 

Scooping some omelet into mouth, Adora savored the welcoming flavor before shooting Scorpia a smile and a thumbs up. Hangover food was much appreciated, but she could eat Scorpia’s cooking for every meal really. Adora turned her head at the sound of a door opening and approaching footsteps. Adora struggled hard not to stare, watching as Catra emerged from her room, wearing an oversized white button up tucked into a pair of ripped burgundy jeans. 

Throwing a black leather jacket over the ensemble, Catra sat down next to Adora at the table. “So, how are you feeling? Relaxed is a good look on you,” she teases through a smirk and a wink. Adora’s cheeks flared red. Oh shit. I totally forgot why I’m here. 

“Uhm yeah I’m doing pretty good. It’s all thanks to you. But like if you don’t mind me asking, what happened last night?” Catra turned her face away in favor of hiding her blush. 

“You really want to know? Ok. How much do you remember?” Catra started, abashed about divulging the events of the previous night. 

“Well I remember us talking with Netossa and Spinnerella, and drinking. A LOT of drinking. Uhm I think I remember da—” Adora stopped mid sentence. Oh no. The lap dance competition. Damn those two for always playing that song! They know I can’t resist. “—dancing. Yeah I uhm remember dancing a bit, and like that’s it. Yep.” I would rather leave that subject untouched, Adora mentally face-palmed. 

“Oh ok. Netossa is actually supposed to come in today along with some guy named Sea Hawk with my new receptionist, Mermista. So nothing after some dancing? Ok.” Catra said, puzzled by Adora’s pause and blatantly embarrassed expression. Maybe it would be better if we could just forget about the whole lap dancing thing. Yeah. That never happened. 

Beginning from their conversation with Netossa and Spinnerella, Catra proceeded to explain the events of the night before, minus the lap dance situation, pausing periodically to answer any questions Adora had. 

Having finished her omelet, Adora thanked Scorpia for the food and had begun cleaning up after herself before her hand was promptly smacked away from the dirty dish by Scorpia. 

“It’d be rude of me to ask you to do that. I got it!” the larger woman cheered. Grateful for her hospitality, Adora complied and returned to her conversation with Catra. 

“So yeah, and then I uh got up and grabbed some coffee, which was when I noticed a weird grunting sound coming from my room. After some investigating, I figured I’d check on you. I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t expect you to be hanging out of my window half-naked. Not to discredit the view.” Catra finished with a small wink. Adora just about ascended into the next plane of existence. The view?! Does she mean my…?! 

“Oh. Wow. Well thanks for bringing me home, and for the bed, and the pajamas, and well putting up with me. Let me pay you back for the Uber at least.” Adora muttered, her voice low and her eyes fixated on Catra’s. 

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I just couldn’t leave you hanging around the party like that,” Catra started, thinking of all the possible horrible things that could’ve happened to Adora had she left without her. 

Standing up, Catra straightened herself out, checking her pockets and grabbing a ring full of keys off the kitchen table. “Anyways, I have to get going. Shop isn’t going to open itself. Uh feel free to hang around as long as you need. I left your clothes from last night on the bedside in case you didn’t see,” she said, walking to the door and pulling on a pair of boots. 

Adora, following close behind her, struggled to process what she had just said. Shit. This might just be the best morning-after-that-isn’t-actually-a-morning-after I’ve ever had. (Granted, the only other morning after Adora had, the poor guy had to wake up alone since Adora had fled the scene more successfully than she more recently tried and failed to do. Not to mention she lost her shoes and had to wander around in the rain before finally hailing a taxi.) 

After some small talk with Scorpia, Adora returned to Catra’s room to change back into her clothes, or at least put on some pants. Opting to just pull on her pants from last night and keep the shirt she had on, Adora checked all her pockets to make sure she still had everything, letting out a sigh of relief upon finding everything where she left it. Adora took a deep breath before grabbing last night’s shirt and leaving to say her goodbyes to Scorpia. 

“Hey I’m gonna go. It was really nice meeting you! I hope we can hang out again sometime!” she said over her shoulder, pulling on last night’s sneakers. 

Turning around to wave goodbye, Adora nearly collided straight into Scorpia, who was holding a small container full of food. 

“For the road. I’m sure we’ll see each other again sooner than you think!” Scorpia winked before engulfing her in a monster bear hug, lifting Adora off the ground a couple inches. What does that mean? 

After one last goodbye, Adora stepped out of the apartment and down the stairs, pulling out her phone only to be met with 3 missed calls from Glimmer and 19 missed messages from her various friends. Great. I’d better call Glimmer sooner rather than later, she thought to herself before looking closer at the device. 

The glare of the sun had caused her not to notice earlier, but as she continued walking, Adora could see the clock on her screen reading 11:13, and Sat, 16 Sept, reading directly below it. Oh nice, it’s Saturday, Adora thought with a small exhale. It’s been awhile since I had a day to myself with wor—oh no. Adora broke into a full sprint. It was 11:13 on a Saturday. Adora was 4 hours late for work. Shit! Mara’s gonna have my head! 

Adora’s lungs burned as her feet grazed the pavement. Swinging herself a sharp turn around the corner with every fiber of her being, Adora ran through all the possible situations in which she was promptly fired upon arrival. As she flung around another corner and down the block, Adora had failed to notice the owner of the shop next door to the flower shop calling out to her. 

The owner was an older lady, who had owned the bakery for as long as Adora could remember, and had practically adopted Adora upon meeting her. She was a little bit odd, often calling Adora the wrong name and claiming that she promised to bake a pie with her, which she never actually did. But she was sweet and kind and always took care of Adora. 

Skidding herself to a stop outside the doors and trying not to knock over any plants, Adora pulled out her keys to open up the shop. Fumbling with the keys, Adora leaned her head on the door and swiftly fell face first onto the linoleum. It’s open?! Oh no. We’ve been robbed. I’m so fired. 

“Oh hey Adora! Why are you here? Did you not get my message?” a voice asked from above her. Rolling over, Adora gazed up at her savior, her more whimsical co-worker Perfuma. Pulling out her phone, Adora scrolled through the various messages before landing on Perfuma’s that read: “Hey Adora! Scorpia told me you stayed the night at her place! Feel free to take your time this morning, I can cover your shift. Try meditating and greeting the morning sun now that you have some time! :)” 

Adora let out a groan similar to that of King Kong. Spectacular. I rushed all the way over here for nothing. 

“Thanks Perfuma. I didn’t really get to reading all of my messages. How do you know Scorpia?” Adora asked, trying to express her gratitude whilst making her exhaustion clear. 

“Oh Scorpia? We met at the party last night! Didn’t you see us during the lap dance competition? It’s too bad neither of us won. Mermista really pulled out all the stops this time.” she replied, seemingly unfazed at the body on the floor and returning to spraying the hanging basket next to the door. Adora let out another groan. Again with the lap dance competition. I can’t believe I did that again. I can’t believe I did that and DIDN’T win?! 

“Wow Perfuma. You must really like her! You never get into those stupid things,” Adora voiced through gritted teeth, surprised at the zen girl’s boldness. 

“Well neither do you! I can’t believe you actually joined this time! You were very good.” Perfuma deflected, stepping over Adora’s corpse to spray the plant next to her. 

Pulling herself up and dusting herself off, Adora shot Perfuma a confused look. 

“Well since you’re here already I guess I’ll just go home,” Adora offered, finished with discussing the topic. 

“Home? Don’t you want to go hang out with that girl you were with last night? You two were dancing rather crudely at the party last night, and didn’t you spend the night at her house? You don’t want to go ask her out or something?” Perfuma queried, pausing her plant-spraying routine. What?! We were what?! Adora choked on air. Doubling over, Adora coughed aggressively into her hand. 

“What? That’s crazy. She slept on the couch. Besides I don’t want to come off as clingy,” Adora replied, still coughing into her hand. 

“Don’t be afraid to show you care, Adora. Caring for people is not a weakness, but your greatest strength!” Perfuma stated, grinning at Adora with the purity of all the cute cat videos on the internet. 

“Maybe for you, but like most people, I am weak.” Adora quipped, bouncing back from the temporary ingenuousness overload. 

“Well whatever you say. You’re welcome to keep me company if you want,” Perfuma sang, dropping the subject. Adora shook her head. 

“No, I wouldn’t want to bother you. I think I’m just gonna go,” Adora grumbled, contemplating Perfuma’s idea. 

Asking Catra out on a date wouldn’t be horrible. In fact, it would probably be a lot of fun! She’d love to get to know her better, in more ways than one too. Waving goodbye to Perfuma and exiting the store, Adora weighed her options. After careful deliberation, Adora quickly looked both ways and jogged across the street. God, I hope she says yes. 

****

Reaching across the table, Catra pulled the binder back towards her. Sitting before her was Sea Hawk and Netossa, who had each come in for an interview regarding becoming an artist for the shop. 

While Sea Hawk had yet to actually learn to tattoo on people, his traditional work was not something to sneeze at. Netossa on the other hand was almost as qualified for the job as Catra was, her own portfolio and past experience speaking for her, aside from their other brief meeting at the party. 

“Alright so you both seem highly qualified for the job, but I still have some questions for you,” Catra said, trying to mask her intentions to hire both of them anyways. 

She was pretty happy with what she had seen so far and could take Sea Hawk as an apprentice, and get Netossa started right away, but she wanted to mess with them a bit for kicks. It wasn’t everyday one finds themselves in such a position of power over people. 

“Ok for starters, what do you do when a client is being difficult?” Catra asked, looking down at the notebook in her hand as if she was reading off a set list, when in reality her method of picking questions was pretty random. 

“Set their car on fire,” Sea Hawk replied, not missing a beat. Catra and Netossa looked at each other. 

“I’m sorry you would what?!” Catra exclaimed, questioning the man’s sanity but desperate to get her business rolling. 

“Aha-ha ha heh. That was simply a test! You have passed,” Sea Hawk shouted, putting a foot up onto the table and standing up in his chair in an attempt to recover. It all makes sense now. How did I not see it already. Almost his entire portfolio is flaming boats. He dresses like a pirate for God’s sake. 

Catra face-palmed in sync with Netossa. “No, we’re NOT going to do that.” Netossa groaned from underneath her hand. Catra looked to Netossa. At least the two of them were sane and on the same page, she was starting to like her. Definitely hired. 

“You know what? I was just messing with you guys, but I’m gonna think things over and get back to you by Monday,” Catra sighed, slumping her shoulders. This guy is insane. I’m really gonna have to keep an eye on him. How did Mermista say she knows him again?! 

Ushering the pair back to the front of the shop from the back room, Catra threw Mermista a inquisitive look and a point in Sea Hawk’s direction, which was met with an apathetic shrug. Great. Just great. She was going to have to hire Sea Hawk because of her certain lack of staff and need to start attracting clients, but that doesn’t mean she was looking forward to it. 

After saying their goodbyes, Sea Hawk and Netossa left the shop, Sea Hawk blowing a kiss at a disgusted Mermista on the way out. Ensuring that the pair was no longer in earshot of the shop, Catra turned on her heels towards Mermista, who was sitting behind the front counter. 

“Your boyfriend said he would set someone’s car on fire if they were being difficult?!” she exclaimed, waving her arms around frantically. 

“Yeah sounds like him. And he’s NOT my boyfriend.” she replied, eyes never leaving the computer screen. 

“Right. Whatever. But does he actually DO stuff like that?! I can’t afford a lawsuit before we even get our first client!” Catra yelled, turning away and pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“I mean he did one time… but that guy totally deserved it. And that’s the only one I know of. I’m sure he does it all the time.” she said, seemingly ok with the behavior. Catra face-palmed loud enough for Mermista to look up from her computer. 

“Hey, I’m sure he’ll be fine. But just a heads up, he likes to sing too.” she said, her tone reassuring but her words piercing through Catra like a harpoon. Singing?! I know I really need to get people in here, but do I really need him?! 

Squatting down and pushing her hands into her head, Catra let out a loud groan before jumping 10 feet into the air at the sound of the shop door’s bell, practically clinging to the ceiling. 

“Shit! You fucking scared me! Sea Hawk I swear to God, if you set ANY fires in here I’m gonna have your head on a pike!” Catra groaned, closing her eyes and pushing a finger to her temples to soothe her oncoming headache. 

“Sea Hawk? Oh he’s a wild card for sure,” a silky smooth voice replied, chuckling a bit at the sight of an irritated Catra. Opening her eyes, Catra regretted everything she had just said. 

In front of her stood Adora, still wearing Catra’s oversized t-shirt, only this time with a pair of pants as well. The sight of Adora wearing Catra’s shirt suddenly made her extremely conscious of how good she looked in it. Of course she had seen her earlier that day, but that was different. She had only been visiting. 

“Oh h-hey Adora, sorry I thought you were—” Adora let out a small giggle. “Sea Hawk. I know. Don’t worry about it.” Catra stood, frozen in time for a moment. Adora’s giggle at that moment was so different from the night before. Still just as bubbly, but this time with more clarity. “—uhm yeah. Sea Hawk. So uh what brings you in? Looking to get inked?” Catra questioned, intrigued as to the reason for her visit. 

She couldn’t have been there to get a tattoo right? She would be Catra’s first client in her own shop. The thought of tattooing Adora stood at the front of Catra’s mind like a billboard in the middle of a road. Getting up close and personal with her, working with her through the design process, sitting down for hours and embedding the ink into her skin. Helping her manage the pain if she needed it. 

“Oh no. Not that I wouldn’t! It’s just not the reason I came today,” Adora said, running a hand through her hair. Today. Does that mean she wants to come back again? Like often? 

“I uhm just wanted to see if you’d like to go to dinner? Like sometime. If not that’s like totally cool too uhm… yeah,” Adora mumbled. WHAT. Catra was floored. Adora was actually asking her out on a date. Adora was standing in front of her, red faced and stumbling over her words, asking her out on a date. Adora wanted to go on a date with Catra. 

“Uh y-yeah sure! Sounds good? When were you thinking?” Catra managed to spit out, clearly struggling with the limits of spoken language. 

“Oh I don’t know, whenever works for you really!” Adora stiffly replied, her body stiffening up as well in her surprise. 

“Oh uhm well I’m free tomorrow night if that works?” Catra asked, trying to mask her ecstasy. 

“Oh really? Awesome! Sounds like a plan! I’ll uh text you later? For details?” Adora stammered, quickly pulling out her phone to reassure herself that she had Catra’s contact information. 

“Awesome. It’s a date!” Catra replied, grinning like a fool and shooting Adora a thumbs up. 

“Awesome. I’ll uh catch you later then.” Adora answered, attempting to do some finger guns and failing miserably, forgetting to stick her thumbs out and just pointing aggressively at Catra before walking backwards out of the shop, bumping her back on the door on her way out. 

After seeing her out, Catra turned back to the inside of the store, doing a couple small fist pumps and cheers. 

“Wow. That was like… something straight out of a movie,” Mermista stated, interrupting Catra’s celebration. 

Turning back to the counter, Catra raised an eyebrow at her receptionist, who had at one point pulled out a bag of chips and had watched the interaction like a movie goer, popping another chip into her mouth and munching on it. 

“What the hell Mermista?! Where did you even…” Catra’s sentence trailed off as she felt her phone buzz in her pocket, suddenly overtaking her attention. Looking down at the device, Catra beamed as she gazed at a message from Adora that read: “super excited for tmmr night!! was thinking Mystacor? does that sound ok?” 

Catra felt giddy at the message as she quickly typed back: “sounds great be ready to lose ;)” Catra’s heart skipped a beat when she thought about hitting up the game bar they planned to go to. She had quite the competitive streak and was ready to take it easy on Adora for the sake of the date. Little did she know Adora was fairly competitive herself, only she didn’t plan on letting Catra off the hook so easily.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this small drabble! Again, I apologize if it got sloppy, coming back to this after so long felt a bit awkward at first. Feel free to leave comments, critiques, or any feedback in the comments! I love seeing what suggestions people have. I know I said I wasn't going to write again before, but this time I really mean it.


End file.
